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Naruto was fiddling with someone he kept in his pouch. He was rather nervous about this meetup. He had to tell his aides that he had a private affair out of the village and it took five different times to reassure Shikamaru that everything concerning the village was okay.
Naruto left the village during dusk. At first he was going to take the thunder train out of the village, but he knew that there was at least one shinobi that was going to follow him, so he decided to use his father’s jutsu and flash to the edge of Fire country along the coast. He knew he was too fast for anyone to follow. He smirked as he went to go and sit on a bench.
The kage was nervous. Almost everyone on his team was married and with someone, Sakura with Kakashi, Sai with Ino and… well he didn’t know who Yamato was with, just that he had someone to visit when he had a break from Orochimaru. Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones that kept single, but he wanted to change that.
Sakura tried to talk Naruto out of this. She knew how much Sasuke had hurt the blond over and over again, and how much he was hurting when Sasuke was away from the village. Naruto knew all of this, but he didn’t want to wait. He knew that being in the village hurt Sasuke so he wasn’t going to force anything like that.
“Where is he…” Naruto sighed, putting an arm on the back of the bench as he watched the sun set. He stayed silent for a few minutes before something flashed beside him. Naruto already knew who it was and wasn’t going to flinch.
“Took you long enough…” The kage chuckled, Sasuke taking a breath.
“Sorry, I had to do something before coming here–”
Naruto cut him off by laughing.
“You don’t need to be a hard ass. I was kidding. I knew you wouldn’t keep me waiting for long.”
Sasuke didn’t show much emotion, but all Naruto had to do was look in his mismatched eyes, unafraid of what all they could do, to know Sasuke was laughing on the inside.
They sat together for a bit, Naruto bringing his arm to rest on Sasuke’s shoulders. At first he stiffened then he began to relax, leaning into Naruto’s touch. During these times, they never had to say much. They could just sit and do nothing and they'd be happy.
“You know… I think we should talk,” Naruto said quietly. Sasuke nodded his head, answering with a ‘hn’. Naruto knew it was Uchiha speak to move on.
“What do you think about us?” Naruto asked.
Sasuke was taken aback by that, pulling away for a moment.
‘What about us?”
Naruto huffed, going into his pack to bring out a velvet box to place on Sasuke’s thigh. Sasuke’s eyes widened, a little nervous. He knew what that box meant and what it would do.
“...is this a way to keep me in the village?”
Naruto shook his head quickly.
“Not at all. I know what this would mean for us… if we were to… you know. I wouldn’t ever keep you in the village.”
“Then how do you expect this to work out?” Sasuke asked, sighing.
“Why? Do you not like what we have?” Naruto questioned, feeling dread in the pit of his stomach.
Sasuke turned to face the ocean, feeling the breeze hit his cheek. He always loved this spot. It was where he and Naruto first kissed, where they had confessed their love for each other. There were a lot of memories here, so he’s not surprised that Naruto would pick this venue to pop the question.
“I do like what we have, but marriage, doesn’t that mean we would be… together?”
Naruto grinned that goofy smile of his.
“We would be, but we don’t need to be physically together to be together. I respect your reasons to be out of the village and I know you respect my reasons for staying. This just means it’s official.”
Sasuke closed his eyes to think. He understood where Naruto was coming from. Once he opened his eyes, he reached down to open the box. Of course the stone had to be a ruby.
“It reminds me of your eyes.” Naruto said, blushing.
Sasuke then picked up the ring and handed it over to Naruto, who picked it up and placed it on his finger.
“I’ll take that as a yes then,”
Sasuke looked forward, leaning further into Naruto’s arm.
“Yes.” Sasuke answered, closing his eyes to take a breath, placing his head on Naruto’s shoulder.
“I love you,” Sasuke muttered. Naruto turned his head to kiss the top of his head.
“I love you, too” Naruto spoke gently.